Motherboard designers appear to have reached the limit of their endeavours as they explore new and exciting ways to present a solution which is positively different in terms of the visual appearance and yet MSI appear to have opened a new door with KRAIT GAMING.
Pairing up hardware to follow a coloured-scheme has been a pursuit for many a system builder in recent years and the usual theme to follow is either red or blue and so, by MSI introducing KRAIT GAMING with a black and white configuration this expands the possibilities further. Looking at a variety of product categories proves that there are indeed quite a good selection of black and white components to choose from and thus match up with a motherboard such as KRAIT GAMING to create a sleek and stylish arrangement.
This board has some obvious cutbacks due to two reasons; the price-point and the target audience, the gamer. Nevertheless, the existing features are very well implemented and still deliver generous functionality. Dotted around the motherboard there are signs of Military Class 5 components being used and features like Audio Boost 3 are present – at least two points which verify KRAIT GAMING is a decent offering. There are also additional inclusions which will undoubtedly be handy to have too, such as M.2 support, SATA Express and USB 3.1 Gen1/2.
Putting KRAIT GAMING through its paces in our benchmarking suite revealed a capable motherboard. Against other previously tested Intel Z170 boards, today’s sample didn’t shy away from demonstrating good results. During our overclocking phase we managed to push the Intel Core i7-6700K to 4.5GHz, which is a reasonable achievement albeit not our best on this platform. Applying such a modification does require a few extra tweaks due to the current/power limit being set to auto and at a level which is too conservative.
The big attraction to KRAIT GAMING is probably its price which rests at £100 GBP / $150 USD. At this price-point this motherboard is regarded as quite a bargain based on what it offers in terms of features, performance, looks and warranty.
If you’re on the hunt for an affordable Intel Z170 motherboard, you can’t go far wrong with MSI’s Z170A KRAIT GAMING; this motherboard is stylish, is packed with useful features, performs well and above all comes with an attractive price-tag.
Pros
+ Stunning, sleek appearance
+ Plenty of functionality
+ Military Class 5 components
+ Great performance
+ Good storage options
+ Affordable
Cons
- Current/Power limits need adjusting to overclock
- Thinner dimensions mean no far-right mounts
+ Stunning, sleek appearance
+ Plenty of functionality
+ Military Class 5 components
+ Great performance
+ Good storage options
+ Affordable
Cons
- Current/Power limits need adjusting to overclock
- Thinner dimensions mean no far-right mounts
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.